


To Betray

by mocinno



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Time Skip, Pre-Time Skip, War, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-08 07:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mocinno/pseuds/mocinno
Summary: It was one thing to change classes. It was another to defect from your homeland entirely.





	To Betray

**Author's Note:**

> Largely inspired by https://bae-leth.tumblr.com/post/186053976785/now-that-we-know-felix-can-be-recruited-it-got-me

“You... you jerk!” Ingrid punched him roughly on the arm and scowled. “I can’t believe you’d leave the Blue Lions like this!”

”Whoa, whoa.” Sylvain raised his hands in the air. “I’m still loyal to Faerghus, I promise. All I want is to learn under Professor Byleth more, and that means changing to her class. The Golden Deer can’t be that bad.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I’ll still be around the building. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

He went to pat her head and she smacked him on instinct. “I suppose.” She sighed. “Just... promise you won’t betray the Kingdom.” 

Ingrid’s eyes shifted to the floor. “I’ve had enough to last a lifetime.”

Sylvain hugged her with one arm and she didn't push him away. "Oh, don't get all sad on me, Ingrid! Don't get yourself down. I'd never betray you."

* * *

Sylvain wanted to think his day had been peaceful. He gave his soldiers the usual rousing breakfast speech, went to a nearby market to restock the armory, and even spared time to read part of his book on foreign painting styles. They were still awaiting further orders from King Dimitri. Until then, they were stuck scouting and patrolling the area.

He was sitting at a table with his group’s strategists when a scout came bursting in.

“Sir!” He threw the tent flap open, waving his spyglass in one hand. “Sir, a large force is gathering near our camp, from the west."

Sylvain frowned. The only way to the camp from the west was a well-worn but scarcely known pathway. Hardly any who passed by the area could have found it. The scout handed him his spyglass. Peering through it, Sylvain was shocked at the sight.

“Professor Byleth...?” Sylvain couldn’t believe his eyes. There was his former teacher, atop a massive black wyvern, leading an army behind her, headed straight towards him. Her hair, he noticed, had turned a mint-green shade, but her eyes still carried the same sense of quiet determination.

“Do you know that general?” 

“I know her alright.” He set the spyglass on the table. “Rally the troops,” he ordered, grabbing his lance and walking quickly outside. “We’ve prepared for an attack from the west already. We will win this fight.”

As he mounted his horse, a flash of red flew past him. Sizzling in the grass was a bright red arrow, glowing with the ancient energy of a hero relic. He glared ahead of him. 

Byleth landed several feet away from his camp, and behind her, an archer in tan and yellow jumped off.

Sylvain had to blink to make sure he was seeing correctly. Claude von Riegan. 

So it was true. All three houses had gone to war. 

He pulled his horse in front of his soldiers and raised his lance in a cheer. "You all know our plan for a western attack. I trust we will not fail, no matter how powerful the enemy is!" The men and women shouted back. The battle had begun.

In truth, Sylvain had never fought against someone with a relic before, only _with_. It was horrifying, simply, to see the raw power wielded in each weapon. He knew about the Sword of the Creator, saw Byleth using it to cut down waves of enemies like it was nothing, but to see it used against his own men was something else entirely. Claude as well was also a threat. He was never seen, it seemed, but he was always firing arrows at the worst possible time.

"Hello, Professor!" Sylvain smiled as he looked up at his former teacher, surrounded by his fallen teammates. He bit back the bitter taste in his mouth. "Good to see you again!"

Byleth stopped swinging, the bony pieces becoming a sword, and pointed straight at Sylvain. "I came here for you."

"Huh?" For a moment he was genuinely shocked, and she swooped in, the flat of her sword smacking him on the shoulder. Alright, he supposed, she wasn't up for conversation. 

He regained his composure and pulled his horse forwards, aiming for the underbelly of Byleth's wyvern. As he neared, another red arrow whizzed past him. He whipped his head around to find Claude, but the other man was already preoccupied with attacking some other soldier. Something dangerous was amiss.

In the time he looked for Claude, Byleth had vanished. 

He had bigger things to worry about than his weird teacher. A frail-looking mage was casting spells to his left, and he quickly rode up to her. With a quick stab and a deft pull of the reigns, the mage was grasping her shoulder in pain while Sylvain was curse-free. He adjusted his lance with a confident grin.

Suddenly, he was thrown from his horse from a powerful force. Byleth had attacked him with her sword, again, and not with the pointy bit, again. She slid off her wyvern and started walking towards him.

He started to use his lance as a crutch to stand when she kicked him in the chest and knocked him flat. His lance fell, conveniently, just out of his reach.

She glared at him, silently; he grit his teeth at what he would do next. "Men, stand down!" He yelled above the din of the battle, and slowly swords were sheathed and spells were ceased. Though she said nothing, the Golden Deer held their fire as well.

”Sylvain.” The tip of her sword was about a centimeter from his neck. “You were always my favorite student.” Well. That wasn’t where he expected the conversation to go. She sheathed her sword and extended a hand. “Won’t you join our cause?” Byleth shifted her eyes to the soldiers behind her. Former students, just like him. “Surely you realize that Pri- That King Dimitri is no longer acting justly.” Her eyes stayed on Claude for a moment longer, his skeletal bow held confidently. “If you refuse, we’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

He thought of that bitter man on the throne, with the ragged blond hair and the heart no longer where it belonged.

Sylvain took her hand and she pulled him easily to his feet. “Good to have you back, Sylvain.”

For a moment, bitterness swept over her face. She rubbed the back of her neck as she said, “I was really worried you’d say no back there. A lot of students have changed since those days... But you’re the one I’m most curious about.” He raised his eyebrows. “Are you still chasing skirts?”

”No, no. I gave that up a while ago. I realized that,” he swallowed, “a family is made from compassion and genuine care, not pretty faces.” 

Byleth seemed to light up at his words. “You finally learned, huh?” Louder, for her soldiers, she spoke. "The enemy commander has surrendered." 

.

.

.

Peace in these times was rare, but it came easily in the still nights, when crickets and crows took their rightful place over the drums of war. The Golden Deer camp was nestled in a stretch of forest looking over the hilly valley where the battle took place, perfect for scouting while staying hidden. Sylvain had to admit, he would never have thought to look there.

He had been met with relative friendliness. Many of the recruits still remembered him from their school days, though by now they were more soldier than student. He returned their greetings with stiff ease. The transition felt too seamless. With many of his men already dead by the time Byleth made her proposal, the few remaining had decided to defect as well. (In fairness, he didn’t have a large force to begin with).

Wanting to avoid a stir he chose to sit alone at dinner, until Byleth sat across from him and gradually drew in what felt like the entire army.

He’d mostly kept his head down. Many of the women had been victims of his ill advised flirting phase, and he decided it best to not harass them any further.

Finally, he was able to retreat to his tent. Alone at last.

“May I come in?” Peace did not last long, however.

Byleth gave him a small smile as she entered. “You’ve adjusted well.”

”Well enough.” He exhaled loudly. “I don’t regret my choice, Professor.” He paused. Was it still okay to call Byleth professor? She wasn’t his teacher anymore, but it felt almost second nature. 

Oh, well.

”I agree that Dimitri has lost his sense of self. But when I think about the family and friends I’m leaving behind, I question myself.” He thought of Ingrid, Felix, and Dimitri. They’d spent all their childhoods together. He missed Ingrid. She had always been there to keep him in check. Even after he changed houses and they grew more distant, she was still watching out for him.

Like he’d been pricked by a needle, Sylvain remembered the conversation he’d had with her years past, when he first joined the Golden Deer. 

It was only a small change then, something he could brush off as temporary. But now it was real, and he truly was betraying his house, just by sitting in the camp. It was real. It was real. He really had betrayed Faerghus. 

Sylvain couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned in his cot, plagued by the nightmare that was becoming reality-- to fight his allies. The repercussions of his choice would soon come flying at him.

He would have to fight Ingrid. It was possible, he knew, but a painful feeling in his gut told him it was certain she would be leading one of the forces they'd soon fight.

**Author's Note:**

> Bold move to assume I won’t write about a game just because it isn’t out yet.


End file.
